Question

By the time we came to the bookshop all books … .

Answer 1

By the time we came to the bookshop all books had been sold.

Answer 2

By the time we came to the bookshop, all books were already sold.

When you say "by the time," it indicates that an action or event has occurred or will occur before a specific point in time. In this case, the specific point in time is when "we came to the bookshop." So, by the time we arrived at the bookshop, something had already happened, which is that all the books had been sold.

The phrase "all books were already sold" suggests that there were no books left for us to purchase when we arrived at the bookshop. It implies that there was high demand for the books, and they were quickly bought by other customers before we had the chance to get there.

It's important to note that the phrase "all books were already sold" assumes that the bookshop had a limited supply of books, and it was exhausted before we arrived. However, if the bookshop had more books in stock, it would be more accurate to say "many books had already been sold" or "a lot of books had already been sold" instead of "all books were already sold."

Overall, the phrase "by the time we came to the bookshop, all books were already sold" conveys the idea that we missed the opportunity to purchase any books because they were sold out before we arrived.